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Hochul: 'I'm Looking Forward to Being a Private Citizen'

William Hochul speaking at the Federal Building downtown
Alex Crichton
William Hochul speaking at the Federal Building downtown

U.S. Attorney William Hochul says the time is right for him to step aside from his 30 year Department of Justice career.

"It's the time to leave public life, leave a leadership role that the President gave me, and to know that the office is in very good hands, and it's going to continue the mission," he said.

Hochul announced yesterday he's retiring October 28th after nearly 30 years in the Department of Justice, including the last six and a half as United States Attorney for the Western District.

He was nominated by President Obama in 2009 to serve as the US Attorney for the Western District, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2010.

United States Attorney's Office is in the Federal Building on State Street
United States Attorney's Office is in the Federal Building on State Street

He told reporters today that that his decision to retire from the post has nothing to do with the next President.

"My promise was for four years and it was a wonderful run.  And I don't think we need to speculate on whether I could have stayed or not because this is the decision I've made," he said.

One of the most significant cases he worked on was the prosecution of Mufid Elfgeeh, the first known ISIL recruiter ever captured.

He says the recent arrest of a suspect in the Xerox Federal Credit Union fatal robbery serves as a fitting punctuation mark for the last few years of his term.

One of his very first cases was a triple homicide in the town of Greece, so his tenure in the U.S. Attorney's Office began and ended with a violent crime case arrest.

Hochul says he hopes Assistant U.S. Attorney J.P. Kennedy is appointed in the interim.

He notes the position of U.S. Attorney is appointed by the President, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.